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So, I’ve been MIA for a while, it sucks, March was really hard on me this year. As I’ve mentioned before I’m bipolar and so winter is really tough for me some times, and because this winter has been especially long and especially cold, not to mention especially dark and gloomy, it has taken it has taken its toll on my mental being.

But alas, the winter is finally over, the snow is melting, the days are longer and getting warmer. It’s time for me to make my comeback!

Not only did I have trouble with March but I also missed 3 weeks of pole class! Unbelievable, I know! The first week was because of weather, we had a massive snow storm and let me tell you, one winter accident is enough for me! Then the next week I was beginning to get a sinus infection and tried to beat it by staying home and going to bed early, and then the next week I actually managed to get a sinus infection because my daughter was sick.

This Wednesday was the first day back to pole and I was still a little sick so it was really tough to spend the energy needed.

So this week I got a move called the rubber pencil.

It was really funny because I thought that I was way more bent than I looked. I was hanging upside down thinking, man my feet must be so close to my head. You get down and look at the picture and it’s like damn… not even close! But that’s okay, it’s a goal to work towards, and I’m fully aware my back flexibility isn’t that great.

Oh that’s another thing I’m irritated about! Because of my 3-4 week “break” I’ve lost so much flexibility in my legs, I was so upset and disappointed. But my teacher said that I should be able to get it back a little easier now because I trained myself. So I felt a little better about that.

Anyways, how about I leave you with a delicious recipe since I haven’t done that for you in a while.

This is not a healthy recipe… not at all… but Easters coming up so why not be a little bad!

New stretch Wednesday is here! Now I wasn’t able to take a picture again, I’ve been taking some time off, just haven’t been able to get my butt into gear to work out. This weather exhausts me and I can’t seem to shake it! I’ve had a lot of stuff on my mind as of late so that has also been hindering my attempts at hoping on the pole. I’ve literally been going to bed around 7-8 at night. I’m praying spring comes soon, before I completely lose my mind!

Here’s the new stretch for today!

PsycheTruth on YouTube

I’ve been trying out this new stretch routine by this YouTube channel called PshycheTruth. I’ve really enjoyed it, it has both an advanced girl who can do the splits so you know where you want to aim, as well as a novice girl who’s still unable to do the splits but it’s a bit more of reasonable for where most people are probably at.

Now for me personally I think the flexibility in my hip flexors is great, and if that’s all the splits depended on I’d already have them. Unfortunately my quads are not as flexible and I can feel them pulling every time I go down into the splits. So this stretch I found was really useful, it stretched my quads just like I needed. And to get an extra stretch out of this move, you follow up by doing these moves while your legs are in the same position.

PsycheTruth of YouTube

PsycheTruth of YouTube

For me the forward is what gives me trouble, I can lay flat on my back no problem, well a little problem, I can feel it pulling through my bent legs quad, but that’s exactly what I want it to do right? So it’s perfect. Fantastic round of stretches, if you’d like to see the video and follow along I’ll include that in today’s blog as well because I really enjoy this routine.

Lots is changing for me as of late, looking into getting a new car for the summer, rearranging a lot of my house so I feel like I’ve actually moved in. I’ve lived here for over a year and I think this is the first time I’ve started to feel like we’ll be here for years that it’s not just a temporary living place. I only lived at my previous place for about a year so I haven’t had that feeling of a permanent residence before, and now I’m starting to. I’m thinking long term for once and while one of those long term thoughts is about our next house and saving up for a down payment, I’ve come to accept that we will be at this house for a while before we get a bigger place. I’ve even planned where I could fit another child in here, I live in a two bedroom, 4 story town house, but there’s still room for another bed room so it’s perfect. Not that that’s happening any time soon, just future thinking again.

I’ve been going Pinterest crazy lately, finding tons of things to do with Alice, foods, house things, even baby things. I do this every so often, there’s just so many things on Pinterest worth pinning. If you want to keep up with my pinning you can follow me here!

Here’s one delicious pin I found the other day, and I’ll be nice enough to share it with you!

Remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, and stir into the sauce in slow cooker. Turn up slow cooker to HIGH and allow sauce to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, shred chicken with two forks. Add shredded chicken back into slow cooker and stir to coat.

Divide rice among four bowls. Top with broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.

I love a good slow cooker recipe, especially anything with broccoli! So I hope you all enjoy this recipe and today’s stretches and I’ll see you on Friday for #FrontSplitsFriday week 5! How exciting!

Today is #FrontSplitsFriday! And it’s week 4 which means it’s comparison week to the very first week and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the results.

Here’s my splits for this week.

As you’ll notice it is morning, I needed a break last night because my arm started to hurt a little so I didn’t work out last night. I did some stretches beforehand to try and warm up my muscles but I feel like I could have gone even further if it was after I had done some cardio and really warmed up my body. You can see I’m wearing my sweater because my house was really cold this morning.

And here’s the comparison.

My calf is definitely touching the group more which means my stretch is lower. As well as you can see less of the pole than the first time. So I’m relatively pleased with the results. It really helps to have a comparison I must admit, it’s such a small difference that if I wasn’t photographing it I probably wouldn’t realize it, and I would have slowed down on my stretches because I would have felt that I wasn’t making any progress. But now I feel like trying harder than ever, I am so hell bent on getting these splits down, I know my right side is going to be before my left side that is for sure. I’m going to try and stay in my splits for a couple minutes now and watch a tv show or something to distract me from the time.

All I have to say is TGIF! Not because I work but because my love works and weekends are the time we get to spend together that’s not just eating then bed a couple hours later. I go to bed relatively early because my daughter is exhausting. She’s a little bundle of energy that is like non-stop. So by the end of the day if I have enough energy to work out it’s a miracle.

So something fun today! PDBloggers have teamed up with bodybinds to have a contest and the winner gets $200 towards a purchase on their site. Let me tell you, you need the $200! There’s so much lovely wear and it’s so expensive. I guess not bad for some people but when you have a house and bills and a child to pay for $200 is a lot! But I have to say it looks like it’s worth it, they’re absolutely lovely and work so well with pole because you’ll still get side stick and every other stick while looking sexy as hell!

Just click on the image below to go and enter the contest!

Click to go and enter yourself!

I think once I have more of an audience I may try to run a contest as well. That could be fun, maybe have some art as a prize or something from Poleitical Clothing! It could be fun!

Alright now to leave you off with something delicious because I forgot to yesterday!

Since my other mousse was so successful, here is another one I happened to stumble on. It’s a bit easier to make as well, easier than getting prunes and pitting them because this is made with delicious avocado, and if you’re like “ewww Avacado and chocolate?!” don’t be ridiculous, that sounds delicious, and avocado doesn’t have a taste when mixed with other things…. In fact I’m going to make this today it looks so delicious… IN FACT I’m going to have this after I have my avocado grilled cheese for lunch! Now I’m just hungry…

Well that’s all for this week mes amours! Let’s hope next week is a better one, I know I’m expecting some cold weather here, but it’s kind of like jack frosts middle finger couple of days as we start to head into warmer weather because he can’t go quietly!

Happy Valentines day lovers! Or happy hallmark day, or even happy Friday. Whatever it may be I just hope you have a wonderful day.

I’ve decided to give up on the video blogs for now, or maybe just do them when I feel like it. At least until I have to cut down on the amount of times I write a week. This will most likely happen during the summer or around September when I head back to school. I feel like right now I have nothing to talk about during the videos without repeating myself since I write this blog 5 days a week right now.

Not to mention it’s super boring around her right now because it’s winter and I am not a winter person. I may be Canadian but dear god I hate the cold. I’m out a lot more during the spring and summer, and even fall, but during the winter I hibernate.

Now I’m not going to lie, I really don’t like Valentines day, not since it pretty much got ruined for me by an ex-boyfriend who broke up with me the day after, and it was a long-time boyfriend which I didn’t have many of, so it was painful. It made me really sour towards this day, but that doesn’t mean I want to ruin it for others, so I try to make it special for my boyfriend as well as my daughter.

I’m not going to be a hipster like half the people I know though and be like “oh you should love whomever every day of the year blah blah blah I’m so hipster blah blah blah” While I think that’s true, at the same time I think it’s very short sited. It’s not that you just love a person the one day of the year, it’s just the one day of the year where you celebrate love. Just like I’m a mother every day of the year, it’s nice to have a day where you celebrate the fact that you are a mother. Amongst all the shit wrong with our world, we need days to celebrate so we’re not always depressed. Although funny enough this is probably one of the most depressing holidays for some people.

Anyways, before we get to the Valentines day stuff, lets talk #FrontSplitsFriday!

I’ve really seen progression since starting this challenge and I hope you have too! Don’t for get to hastag #FrontSplitsFriday on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, what ever, I want to see your progression!

Next week I’ll have a side by side comparison of Week 1 and Week 4. So makes sure to watch out for that. I’m excited to see the difference.

Alright now that we’ve got that out of the way lets’ talk Valentines day!

I have some wonderful recipes for an EASY romantic dinner for two. First off I’d like to start by saying this is not what I’ll be making for my dinner tonight just because my boyfriend reads my blog because he’s a good boyfriend and I want dinner to be a surprise tonight.

But with that being said, I know my boyfriend will also love this meal so sweetie I will make this at some point for us to eat as well. Love you!

So I know a lot of you are busy, weither you be a mom or work, or are even a working mom. So lets’ do something that can be done in advance so it’s ready to go and the biggest part of your meal is out of the way.

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients

3 pounds of baby back ribs, trimmed

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup water

½ onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (18 oz) bottle barbeque sauce

Directions

Season ribs with salt and pepper.

Pour water into slow cooker. Layer the ribs into the slow cooker. Top the ribs with onion and garlic.

Bake in preheated oven until the sauce caramelizes and sticks to the meat, 10 to 15 minutes.

Easy right?

Next we need a side dish, preferably done at the same temperature as the oven needs to be for the ribs.

What better to go with meat than potatoes?

Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes

Ingredients

6 red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges

3 TBS butter, melted

3 TBS vegetable oil (or coconut oil like I like to use for everything!)

1 TBS chopped rosemary (Fresh is preferred but doesn’t have to be)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Mix together melted butter and oil, then pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Place the potatoes into the dish, and stir until coated. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir the potatoes occasionally to ensure even cooking.

Don’t forget to include a veggie with your dishes, simple enough something like steamed broccoli and carrots with a little bit of melted butter is perfect for a dinner like this!

And last but most definitely not least, a delicious Valentines day dessert!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients

1 lb. big, ripe, fresh strawberries

8 oz. softened Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions

1.Wash berries and cut just the top off of each one. Remove centers of strawberries using a paring knife. Gently blot each berry dry and stand them upside down on a paper towel while you prepare the cheesecake filling.

2. Place the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium size mixing bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer, whip the ingredients together until completely blended and smooth.

3. Fill the strawberries using a small spoon, butter knife or cake decorating tube. Once filled, dip each berry (cream cheese end) into the graham cracker crumbs.

4. Place berries in a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to serve. (These are best made and served the same day.)

Another super easy dessert is also to just do chocolate strawberries. A classic but a good one!

So there you go mes amours! A wonderful dinner for you and your love. I hope you all have a wonderful day, love everyone every day but celebrate love today because without it our lives would be empty.

Last night was a good pole class, despite the pain in my wrist. I learned to get into the bow and arrow from the cross ankle release, and let me tell you, it takes some major lady balls and some secure shorts. I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this, but lets try!

This is the cross ankle release.

From here you have to grab under your butt and hold on for dear life.

You then let yourself drop down with straight arms, which your shorts get stuck on your thumb sometimes and pull your shorts down with them.

And hook a foot onto the pole to wind up in this position.

It’s terrifying! Sometimes I have the lady balls for the cross ankle release, and sometimes I don’t. I’m not sure why, just some days I feel like I don’t have the stick for it.

I practiced my superman last night, again I wound up with bruises galore and sore inner thighs but I nearly got it! Once I have it down I’ll stick up a picture of it, because around the end of last year that was definitely a goal move, now I have bigger goals because I like to get ahead of myself!

It’s video day tomorrow, I’ll try not to embarrass myself as much this time. It’s also #FrontSplitsFriday! I’m looking forward to comparing last weeks with this weeks. And next Friday we’ll be comparing the first week with the 4th week to see the real progression!

Sorry about another short post today but my lovely daughter has gymnastics and I have to rush off to that now! But how about to make it up to you guys I leave you with a delicious recipe page full of delicious gluten free recipes!

Click the picture below to go there! Don’t be shy!

And keep an eye out tomorrow for a special valentines day post! Love is in the air mes amours!

It’s Wednesday! My favorite day of the week! Why? Well if you didn’t know by now, I’ll tell you, it’s Pole Day! And having missed last week because of the car accident, I’m majorly looking forward to tonight. Minus the fact I have to drive because my best friend is gone to Florida for 10 days, which is the worst! I miss her!

So super excited to go to pole, also haven’t seen my other pole lady in 2 weeks! Which is ridiculous! We have decided to make shirts for Friday, which is Sexapalooza, where we’ll be working the 3Sixty Dance & Fitness (Which is my home studio) booth. So today I’m going on a hunt for some black tank tops that I can put a design on the front with those iron on pages that you print off. I’ll show you guys on Friday during my weekly Video Blog!

Today is also new stretch day! And todays’ stretch is THIS ONE!

Okay so I don’t know the name of this stretch, what I do know is that it’s pretty close to the One-Legged King Pigeon Pose variation in yoga, so we could go with that.

Before I leave I want to share something that a friend posted on Facebook because it is amazing. Amazing for a foodie like myself!

CLICK THE PICTURE! DO IT NOW!

31 Grilled Cheese that are better than a boyfriend! Just click the picture to be taken to the page. The sandwich pictures is the chicken parm grilled cheese and my mouth is just salivating looking at it! I am definitely going to make this one, I’m not big on bread but I will make an exception for half these sandwiches!

Alright, so being the start of February PDBloggers have a new photo promp challenge out! Exciting!

There were a few last month I wasn’t able to do, I didn’t do floor work because I literally had no idea what to do so I skipped it, and off pole inversions which I had an idea for but wound up unable to complete due to the freezing weather here in Canada.

But this month I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to complete all of them, and I request you to join in with me!

I think I may shock them with my pointed feet though. I never realized how freakishly flexible my feet are until my pole teacher pointed it out. It was pretty funny, she looked at them and immediately said “I need a picture of that!” I didn’t know that it was something people strived for, so that’s pretty cool!

Warm up is something I’m trying to figure out still. I don’t want it to be boring so I’m still working on it. Maybe I’ll put a photo collage together of my favorite warm up!

And then there’s the last one, Booty, Booty, Booty WHAT! This’ll be fun, everyone loves a good booty! And I have just the picture for it with some awesome booty shorts/panties from Poleitical Clothing.

That’s the one thing has really improved since taking pole, my self-image. I have come to learn to love my body since starting pole. Sure there’s still things I would fix, like the loose skin on my stomach from having a baby, but that takes time and every mother knows that.

So the other day I found the most delicious recipe ever, and I’m going to be nice enough to share it with you, 37 Calorie Brownies! (When cut into 9 pieces) Super easy to make with ingredients that aren’t some ridiculous thing that you have a hard time finding in a grocery store.

Preheat the oven to400°F. Grease a square baking dish (I used 8″x8″). Combine all incredients into a food processor or a blender, and blend until smooth (about 1 minute). Pour into the prepared dish and bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 9 large squares.

Optional: Add about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. This brings the calorie count up to about 65 calories per brownie.